Darker than White
After a close encounter with BloodClan, and learning that Bloodpaw is actually a relative of their leader, Snow, Blazepaw and Ruinpaw are on the run. They need to get to the Clans of the Lake, and fast. Or total destruction awaits... Please Note That some of these cats and Clans have not been created by me. See The Character Page to see who is the original creator of the Cat and the Clan. You can also visit The Talk Page of this Fanfic to submit your Cat to the Council. All applications, (With the exceptions of ones that make no sense whatsoever) Will be added. Also, be patient if your Cat isn't immediately in the story- I assure you, your cat will make multiple appearances in the series. Chapter One - Maze of Monsters - Blazepaw I couldn't believe what I had just done. In my rage, I had set the entire camp on fire. Now the flames were chasing after us, and although I felt nothing as the flames touched my heels, I knew they hurt Snow and Ruinpaw. We continued up the spiralled ramps, passing each level of the camp as we got further and further towards the surface. At last, just as we were about to give up, we found the small opening that we had been forced into. I allowed Snow and Ruinpaw to go up first, as they were the two that the fire could actually harm. I scampered up behind them, and we backed away, watching the entire tree catch on fire. Snow glared at me as we made our way towards the dirty paths that led to the maze of Thunderpaths we had been caught on. "Why did you do that?" she hissed, pushing me as we passed many silver cans that lined the paths, "You could have got us killed, you mouse-brained fool!" "Sorry... I should have let you die instead." I spat back, unsheathing my claws. I felt the small flames crawling up my legs, but Ruinpaw shot me a look, and they went out immediately. "Don't we have bigger problems to worry about?" Ruinpaw meowed, letting out a sigh, "For example, our Clans?" Snow looked away. She was so stubborn! In silence, the three of us padded out onto the gray-path beside the Thunderpath. Now that we were out of BloodClan, none of us had any idea of where we were going. I couldn't see a lake, forest, or even tree! We padded along, jumping at the sight of a twoleg, or a monster. They were so mouse-brained... talking into little gray objects, yelling when they saw us... "Do you have any idea of where you're going, Blazepaw?" Snow grumbled, "We could be heading towards another BloodClan camp for all you know." "Yes I do," I grumbled back, as we made our way by, yet another Twoleg nest. Ruinpaw gasped. I looked at him, then up at the sky, and realized that we had been trapped in that nest for at least half a day. It was now bright out (Although you really couldn't see anything through the Twoleg Smoke), and the sun was high in the sky. "I'm hungry." Snow complained. I wanted to argue with her, but I had to admit, I was pretty hungry, too. Letting out a sigh, I led Ruinpaw and Snow into a small, grassy area. Twoleg Kits were swarming the place, and rolling in the grass noisily. But then I saw it- the Twoleg wood-surface, a surface constructed of wood, which Twolegs tended to eat off of. "Follow my lead." I whispered to my companions. They nodded, and we ran through the grass, hopping onto the wood-surface. The She-Twoleg who was eating sreeched, and got up immediately. Not waiting any longer, we devoured the food she had dropped. It tasted bland- unlike fresh-kill. After I was full, and the others as well, we darted away from the Grassplace and back onto the Gray-path, back into the maze of Monsters that kept us in the horrifying TwolegPlace. "So where are we going now?" Ruinpaw meowed, stretching, "We're both followin' you, Blazepaw." Before I could answer, there was a screech from behind us. We turned around, and gasped as Skunk, the cat who had (attempted) to woo Snow earlier. The mangy old beast approached us, and it was then I noticed the flies circling his head. "Hey, you three! Are ya lost?" Skunk sneered, coughing as he finished. "Not you again..." Snow snarled, unsheathing her claws, "What do you want, Beetle-brain?" Skunk let out a laugh. He looked over his disgusting shoulder, then flicked his tail, which I realized was coated with grime. "I can take yous outta here. For a price." Skunk suddenly sneezed, sending grime and dirt flying everywhere. I flicked a piece off my shoulder with my tail, not daring to lick it off. Who knew where that grime was found? Ruinpaw eyed Skunk suspiciously. "What's your price, crow-food?" "My price..." Skunk meowed, sitting down, "Is that yous three... wait, you already took care of them BloodClanners, eh?" I nodded, and looked at my paws. The ginger of my paws reminded me of the fire that I had used to possibly kill those cats, and they reminded me that I was a murderer. Skunk nodded, and coughed again. "I 'uess that's payment 'nuff. Now if yous'll follow me..." Chapter Two - The Highstones - Ruinpaw We followed Skunk, but to be honest, I didn't entirely trust the old mangy fur-ball. He coughed and sneezed as we passed countless Twoleg Nests, each one getting bigger as we went. "Do you even know where you're going?" I snarled, barring my teeth. Skunk stopped, causing Blazepaw to collide with him. Turning back, Skunk grinned at me, once again showing his putrid fangs. "Look, little kitty, if I didn't know where I was goin', there wouldn't be them rocks up ahead, now would there?" Skunk snorted. I looked up, gasping as I noticed, behind a large twoleg fence, was rocks... grass... and trees. We had found the end of the TwolegPlace, thanks to Skunk. "Thank you for bringing us here." Blazepaw meowed, calmly. He hopped onto the fence with ease, and nodded. Skunk laughed. "It was no prob'em at all, kitties! I jus' thank yous for gettin' rid of 'OodClan. Have a 'ice trip!" Wordlessly, Skunk padded away, chuckling to himself as he went. Snow rolled her eyes, and hopped onto the fence gracefully, followed by me. As I landed on the other side of the fence, I looked around. We were in a rocky place, and large Mountains could be seen in the distance. Snow froze as she saw them, and looked at Blazepaw excitedly. "Blazepaw, Ruinpaw, we're not that far away from the Lake after all! Those are the Mountains of the Tribe of Rushing Water! If we hurry, we can make it to those mountains by sunrise tomorrow!" Snow exclaimed, taking a pawstep forward. "Wait..." Blazepaw meowed, looking at the entrance to a cavern nearby, "I recognize this place. This might be the Highstones from Clan Legends, Ruinpaw! If this really is the Highstones, there should be something called the Moonstone inside! But you know that! Come on, let's go!" I laughed, following Blazepaw as he padded into the tunnel. Snow followed behind me, frightened of the place. As we padded further and further into the tunnel, my sight began to fade away. I could see nothing, and I was relying on my whiskers (Which were brushing against the sides of the tunnel) to know where I was going. Suddenly, light began to return, just like it had when Blazepaw and I were trapped in Antoinette's cavern. Except this wasn't sunlight; it was the light of a luminescent White rock, which stood proudly in the center of a circular enclosure. "Are you sure you want to touch it?" Snow meowed worriedly as Blazepaw approached it, "It might be dangerous..." "Then do it with me," Blazepaw replied. Without another word, Snow and I lunged forward, touching the stone gently with our noses. A cold sensation thundered through me, and I couldn't resist the call of sleep. I felt cold. Very cold. I opened my eyes, jumping to my paws as I noticed the scenery. The tree that housed BloodClan's camp was in front of me... in fact, there were four of them. Four giant trees that were amazingly tall. Beside me, Snow and Blazepaw woke up as well. "Blazepaw...? Snow...?" I whispered, looking at them, "Is it just me, or is this not a dream...?" Snow looked over at me, eyes wide. "I'm awake, too... Blazepaw, Ruinpaw... where are we?" I knew where we were as I gazed around. Stars were everywhere... on the grass beneath us, on the trees around us... stars even decorated the pelt of the cats which were now approaching us. The clearing was full of cats surrounding us, when the crowd parted. I looked over at the empty space between the cats, watching in astonishment as three cats came forward... a Gray tabby tom, a big white tom, and a ginger tom, whose fur was as red as fire. I knew immediately that the ginger tom in the front, was, in fact, Firestar. "Greetings, Blazepaw. Greetings, Ruinpaw. And greetings to you as well, Snow." Firestar meowed. Blazepaw and I tipped our heads in respect for the mighty ThunderClan leader, but Snow simply stood there, too stunned to do anything. "You seem to know who I am. For you, Snow, I shall introduce myself as Firestar. This is Jayfeather-" Firestar turned to look at the tabby tom, "And Whitestorm." Whitestorm coughed, and Firestar continued. "You three have been through many hardships during the last few sunrises. I am proud to have such a brave apprentice as my chosen one." I felt a growl rise in my throat as Firestar licked Blazepaw on his forehead. Just then, as they touched for a brief moment, I noticed that they both had a bright ginger coat. I shook my head, and continued to watch Firestar. "Curious, as well. I am glad to have you three here with us tonight." Jayfeather began, "And since you three are here, we shall tell you where to go in order to reach the lakeside." Whitestorm stepped forward, and looked at Snow and I fiercely. "Through a tangle of thunder, over the Mountains of snow. That will bring you to your destinies." Whitestorm meowed. I watched, as the cats around me began to fade away. Helplessly, I watched as the face of Firestar grew dimmer... and dimmer... until all went black. Chapter Three - Thunder - Snow I woke up, breathing heavily. I glanced over at Ruinpaw and Blazepaw, and to my delight, they were awake as well. Ruinpaw gave his gray shoulder a quick lick, and stretched. Without another word, we were following eachother's scent trails as we made our way through the tunnels. All this was so strange to me... even if I had dreams similar to this one, I had never seen any cats with names like Ruinpaw and Blazepaw. Although I had once... a nice young she-cat named Feathertail had visited me once, however briefly. "We're out." Blazepaw meowed, as we finally found our way out. I squinted, as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight. As my eyes finally adjusted, I gasped at what I saw. In front of me, the sun was setting, against the trees that lined the giant TwolegPlace. I had never seen such a beautiful sunset in the Mountains. "That's amazing." I whispered, shaking my head. Blazepaw purred, and flicked his tail, gently letting it rest against mine. "I agree." Ruinpaw meowed, closing his eyes, "I remember watching a sunset with Whiteface and Swift-tail once. We sat by the lake and watched it together... it was beautiful." "We should probably get going... we have to get to the lake soon. And we need to hunt, too." Blazepaw meowed, breaking the moment. I sighed, and got to my paws. Blazepaw and Ruinpaw were already up, padding away from the TwolegPlace. I followed, while sniffing the air to find something to eat. All I could smell was the smog and smoke of the TwolegPlace, although I could smell more natural scents as we got further and further away from the TwolegPlace. "Wait-" Blazepaw meowed abruptly. Ruinpaw and I froze, watching Blazepaw as he unsheathed his claws. I let go of my breath, as he dropped down into a typical hunting position for a Clancat. Blazepaw stalked off, into nearby bushes. A few heartbeats later, Blazepaw emerged happily with a mouse dangling from his jaws. Amazed by his hunting skills for a brief moment, I licked his forehead. Blazepaw shied away, dropping the mouse at my paws. We dug in, each eating our share of the plump mouse. Before long, the mouse had been devoured. "That was pretty good, Blazepaw! Now we should probably get going... we have to get to the lake soon." I meowed, mockingly. Blazepaw rolled his green eyes, and stretched. "Yeah, let's get going. We had a long sleep at the Moonstone, so we should be able to go for a while." Without hesitating any further, we were off. Running as fast as Ruinpaw was hard for Blazepaw and I- he was literally the feline equivalent of a rabbit. The speed we were going was amazing- the trees and bushes whooshed by as we passed them. Abruptly, Blazepaw skidded to a stop. Ruinpaw and I looked around in amazement as we realized why. Three thunderpaths sat there, in a tangled mess. Monsters were zooming by, reminding me of the TwolegPlace. "Are you two ready to cross?" Blazepaw meowed, taking a careful pawstep onto the horrid-smelling Thunderpath. Ruinpaw nodded. "I dunno about Snow, but I'm ready." I nodded, and we were off. Darting across the Thunderpath with ease, we kept running until we crossed another. Now tired, we slowed down to a fast walk. The moon was high in the sky as we finally came across a bunch of trees, similar to the ones on the Elemental Rock. Blazepaw and Ruinpaw looked back at me, and stalked off, looking for a den. (Or so I presumed.) I sat down patiently by the entrance to the small bunch of trees, and waited until they returned. "C'mon, Snow... we found a bunch of plants and made nests. They aren't that comfortable, but we're only going to stay here until Sunrise. Is that alright with you?" Blazepaw meowed, looking at his ginger paws. I nodded, and followed them as they led me to a small spot beneath two trees which was covered with plants. Settling beside Ruinpaw, I placed my head on my paws and slept. "Snow... Snow! Wake up!" I opened my eyes, gasped as I saw Ruinpaw's blue eyes in my face. Jumping to my paws, I was about to yell at him. But Ruinpaw silenced me, and it was then I knew something was up. "What's wrong?" I whispered to Ruinpaw. He flicked his tail, and glanced over his shoulder nervously. In that brief moment of silence, I heard the faint footsteps of cats. I sniffed the air, trying to figure out what was going on. By simply smelling the fresh air, I knew that two cats were headed our way. Both were toms. "Brighttalon, I know they're over here. One's thinking of Antoinette, the others are both thought-less." I heard one whisper. I jumped; how did the cat know I was thinking of Antoinette? I heard the rustle of leaves, and I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat as two cats emerged- one a black-and-white tom, the other a small tortoiseshell tom. "There you are!" The tortoiseshell meowed, fear ringing in his voice, "You have no idea how long we've been searching for you..." Don't miss Fire will Freeze, the next book in the Ancient Powers Series! Category:Shigura's Fanfictions Category:Fan Fictions Category:Ancient Powers Series